Thread-controller for sewing-machines.



L. ONDERDONK. THREAD CONTROLLER FOR SEWING MACHINES.

j APPLICATION FILED SBPT.10, 1907. 1,129,58.

m L I 0 m m m m i Q j R M L. ONDERDONK.

THREAD CONTROLLER FOR SEWING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 10, 1907.

Patented Feb. 23, 1915.

4 SHEETS-EHEET 2.

[NVENTOR By M WITNESSES Atlomeyd' L. ONDERDONK.

THREAD CONTROLLER FOR SEWING'MAOHINES.

APPLIOATION FILED $EPT.10, 1907.

Patented Fbf23, 1915.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 8.

[NI ENTOR W1 TNESSES ZZ Z/A/ w Af/omey 8 L. ONDERDONK. THREAD CONTROLLER FOR SEWING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 10, 1907- Patented. Feb. 23, 1915.

' 4 SHEETSSHEET 4.

lwuaml'op wit" ease:

- Controllers for Sewing-Machines,

"the following is a LANSING ommnnonn, or new "roan, n.

conrnnv, or cnlcaeo, rnnnao Y., ASSIGNOR T0 UNIDN SPECIAL EEACHINE "LS, A CORPORATION. 035 ILLINOIS.

THBEAD-CDNTROLLEJE FQR SEWING-MACHINES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

li,129,58&

Application filed September 10, 1907.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LANSING Ononnoonn, a citizen of the United States, residing 'at New York city, in the'county of New York, State of New York, have inve ted certain new and useful Improvements in Threadof which reference bedrawing, and of reference description, ing had to the accompanying to the letters and figures marked thereon.

- double loop, but also to'pull .downward movement to take My invention relates to new and usefulimprovements in thread controllers for sew-- ing machines, and while said thread controller may be used in various relations to the stitch forming elements of a sewing machine, the same is more especially adapted for use in connection with the needle thread of a machine of this character.

The object of my a thread controller which will operate on the needle ,thread asthe needle starts on its up the slack in front of the needle so as to prevent the thread buckling or doubling upon itself in front of the point of the needle.

A further object of my invention is to provide a thread controller which shall opupon the thread after the needle loop is shed from the looper in order that the thread controller may assist the needle in running up'theprevious needle loop dropped from'the looper, under surface of the work.

A still further object of-my invention is to provide a thread controller which shall operate upon the needle thread during the first movements of the needle as the same starts on its upward stroke whereby the needle thread is not only carried up with the needle so as to prevent the forming of a a little of the thread throughthe eyeof the needle at this time and thus reduce the size of the needle loop, which would otherwisebe thrown out by the needle.

A still further object of myinvention is to provide a needle thread controller which to control the needle thread at throughout the formation so that a tight stitch may be of the stitch,

work operated upon.

Still further objects of my invention, will 'tion Figure invention is to provide close to the Patented Feb. 23, 191 .5.

Serial No. 892,205.

in part be obvious, and will in part be more fully hereinafter described.

My invention consists in the parts, im-

rovemen'ts and arrangements hereinafter shown and described, and set forth in the claims' In thedrawings which show by way of illustration one embodiment of my inven- 1 is a front elevation, partly in section and with parts removed, showing a sewing machine with my improvements applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a detail in front elevation ofthe needle head with certain parts removed for the sake of clearness and showing in dotted lines the movements ofthe thread controlling arms. Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic view showing the position of the thread arm relative to the thread guides when the needle is at its lowest points of movement. Fig. 4' is a view similar to Fig. 3, with the needle in the middle of its up ward stroke. Fig; 5 is a similar view with the needle at the upper extreme of its stroke. Fig. 6 is a similar view with the needle in the middle of its downward stroke. Fig. 7 is-a detail view in front plan showing a modified form of my invention. Fig. 8 is a similar view of another modified form of my invention. Fig. 9 is a detail view showing the adjustable thread guide whichis located between the thread controlling arms. Fig. 10 is a detail in section, showing the manner of adjustably supporting the post carrying the thread controlling arm.

In the drawings the bed plate 1 has rising therefr'oma standard 2' which carries an overhanging arm supporting at the outer end, a needle head. 3. Said needle head 3 is provided with a needle bar 4' carrying a needle 5, secured to the needlebar by the needle clamping collar 6.- Said needle receives its reciprocation from the main shaft *5 which is mounted in the overhanging arm and continuously rotated from anv suitable means. Said main shaft 7 carries the usual crank disk 8 on its forward end, which is connected by a link 9 to a collar 10. on the needle bar.

The presser bar 11 is mounted in the needle head, and carries a presser foot 12 at the lower end. Said presser bar is lifted by the usual hand lever 12. Said presser bar carries a collar 13 which is rigidly secured thereto and a suitable spring 14 mounted on -the head of said machine, engages said collar 13 and thereby holds th in contact with the work support. 1

thread controlling arm 15 is pivoted to an arm 16 which is formed integral with a suitable bracket 17 upon the head of the machine. Said bracket 17 is adjustably mounted in the -head of the machine in any suitable manner. The thread controlling arm 15 .is provided with a thread eye 18 at its forward end and is pivotally connected by means of a link 20 to the collar 13 upon the presser bar at its rear end.

It will be obvious that as the presser bar is raised and lowered by varying thicknesses of material, that the thread eye 18 in the forward end of the thread controlling arm 15 will also be lowered and raised. The needle bar is provided with a thread guide 21 at its upper end, and with a thread guide 22 which is preferably secured to the needle clamping collar 6, at the lower end of the needle bar.

My improved thread controller in the present embodiment of my invention consists of an arm 23, which is preferably rigidly secured to the needle bar operating link 9. Said arm projects outwardly from said link substantially atright angles to the longitudinal axis thereof, and to a point outside of the needle head casing. The outer end of said arm 23 is provided with suitable spaced lips 24 between which is mounted the thread engaging arms 25 and 26. Said thread engaging arms 25 and 26 as shown in the drawing, are formed integral and secured to the arm 23 by a screw 27. The thread arm 25'is provided at its outerend with a thread guide 28 which may be formed by bending into an open eye as shown in the drawings or may be formed by notching the outer end of said arm or in any other suitable way. The thread arm 26 is provided with a similar thread guide 29.

Mounted on the front face plate 30 of the machine, is a stationary thread guide 31 (see Figs. 1 and 9). Said thread guide 31 is preferably formed with a slotted shank 32 and is secured bya suitable screw 33 to said face plate. The stationary thread guide 31 is mounted. at one side of the path of movement of the thread arm 26. Said thread guide is preferably rovided with an open end so that the thread may be inserted therein. By loosening the screw 33, said thread guide may be adjusted up or down so that the relative position of said guide to the thread guides 28 and 29 may be varied.

Cooperating with the thread carrying needle 5, is a thread carrying looper 34 (see Fig. 1). Said looper 34 is mounted upon a suitable carrier 35, which is oscillated by a link 36 connected to a rock lever 37, which in turn is connected by a link 38 to a crank e presser foot ward movements of the the end of the arm- .is drawn up and thus all 32, mounted upon the shaft. 40 in the bed of the machine, which is continuously rotated from the main shaft 7 in the overhanging arm. Said looper mechanism forms no part of the present invention but is shown, described and claimed in my application Serial N 0. 392,207 filed of even date herewith.

In Fig. 7 of the drawing, I have shown a thread eye 41, secured to the thread arm 26 in place of the stationary thread guide disclosed in Figs. 1 to 6 of the drawing. With the thread guide mounted upon the arm 26, the control of the needle thread is similar in character'to that shown in Figs. 1 to 6, although the amount of thread taken up and released bythe thread guides 28 and 29 in their movement is slightly difierent.

In Fig. 8 of the drawing, I have shown a single thread arm 42 which is secured to an ofi'set 43 formed on the link 9, which opcrates the needle bar. Said thread arm 42 isprovided with an open thread eye 44. A stationary thread guide 45 is secured to the headof the machine. By this form'of construction, the thread controlling arm 42, operates practically in the thread controlling arm shown in Figs. 1.150 6, except that the thread by this construction is not taken upon the first downneedle as is done in the other form of my invention.

he movements of'the thread engaging a clearly shown in Figs-2 to 6 of the drawing. The full line position of the thread engaging arms A in Fig. 2 is the same asthat shown in Fig. 5. The dotted position B in Fig. 2 is the same as in Fig. 6 of the drawing. The dotted position C in Fig. 2 is the same as in Fig. 3 of the drawing. The dotted position D in Fig. 2 is the same as in Fig. 4 of the draw mg. y I

The operation of my device will be obvious from the above description. As the needle'bar moves downward starting from the position shown in Fig. 5, the thread eye is moved outward and operates to take up the thread. At the same time the thread eye 28 moves inward releasing a slight amount of thread. The thread drawing movements of the thread guide 29 however, exceed'the thread releasing movements of the thread guide 28 and therefore, as the needle descends, the slack thread which would otherwise form in front of the needle liability of the needle thread buckling or doubling in front of the needle is avoided.

After the point of the needle has entered the looper thread loop, the previous needle loop carried by the looper, is shed from the looper by backward movements thereof. Inasmuch as the needle eye is at this time beneath the surface of the work its further downward movement drawsupon theneedle the same manner as thread and the previous needle loop which is dropped from the looper, will be drawn up toward the under side of the work by the downward stroke of said needle. At this time in the movement of the needle the thread controlling arms are exerting a pull on the needle thread. The thread eye 29in its first movement from the position shown in Fig. 6 moves substantially downward as thecrank pin is substantially at a dwell in its horizontal movement at this time. This downward movement of the thread guide 29 continues'until the crank operating the needle bar has passed through a considerable portion of the moon its travel to the position shown in Fig.3. This downward and slightly inward movement of' the thread guide 29 during this period of the travel of the crank pin operating the needle bar causes t..e thread guide 29 to pull on the thread extending between the thread guide 21 and the fined thread guide 31. During this same period the thread guide 28 is moved downward and outward away from the needle bar and the thread between the fixed guide 31 and the thread guide 22 is pulled on. The combined pulling movements of these thread guides during this period take up the needle thread as above noted. The needle reaches substantially the lower end of its stroke before the crank pin reaches the point where it rapidly'inoves horizontally which in turn moves the thread guide 29 rapidly toward the needle bar to the position shown in Fig. 3. This movement of the thread guide may possibly give up a little thread to the needle but the thread pulling movement of the needle for drawing up the previous needle loop shed from the looper has been assisted by the previous pulling on the thread by the thread guides 28 and 29 during the first part of the movement of tion shown in Fig. 6 to the position shown in Fig. 3. In order that a very tight stitch may be made, it is essential that this needle loop shall be run close up to the under surface of the material and by the present arrangement of parts, I am enabled'to accomplish this running up of the needle loop to the position desired. Then again, if the needle loop is not run up close to the under surface of the work, it is liable to get into the way of the looper on its nextforward movement and be entered by the same, thus, forming imperfect stitches and possibly breaking the thread.

As the needle bar begins its upward stroke, a loop of thread is thrown out for the entrance of the looper. if the slack thread on the supply side of the eye of the needle is not taken up with the needle, .a double loop is formed which often results in the cutting or breaking of the thread. At this period in the nievement of the needle controlling lever the crank pin from the posi-' bar, my thread controlling arms are moving relative to the thread guide 31, (see Fig. 4), so that a pull is exerted upon the needle thread thereof. This pulling movement of the thread controlling arms, operates to 'take up all slack supply side,

needle to form the stitch, is preferably constructed so that a very small looper may be used and when a small looper having a short stroke is used, it is desired to throw out a small loop of needle thread, for if a larger loop than is absolutely necessary for the proper cooperation of the looper is formed, then the needle loop will not be -properly held back upon the looper, and furthermore. the extra amount of thread in the larger loop will have to be drawn up in setting the stitch.

As the needle reaches the upward end of its stroke the thread guide' 21 at the upper end thereof, will carry the thread into engagement with the thread eye or guide 18, on the thread controlling arm 15, and the movements ofthe thread guide on the needle bar above the thread eye on the thread will place the final strain on the needle thread to set the stitch and draw from the supply the amount of thread necessary for the next stitch.

The thread eye 18 on thethread controlling lever is moved up or down according to the thickness of the material operated upon and therefore, the amount of thread drawn off, is regulated by the thickness of the material in which the stitch is to be formed.

By my improved thread controller, wherein the needle thread is drawn through the eye of the needle, to pull up the previous needle loop when the needle is beneath the material, the position of the thread in the eye of the needle is constantly being changed, and, therefore, the strain on the needle thread due to pulling the same against the eye of the needle is less liable to break'said needle thread.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:-

1. The combination of a needle, a looper, and a needle thread controller including a thread engaging device, thread guides c0- operating with said thread engaging device, and means for movingsaid thread engaging device relative to said thread guides to'take up the thread in front of the needle on the first part of the downward stroke of the needle and for moving said thread engaging device relative to said thread guides to pull up the previously formed needle loop after the same is shed from the looper and on the last part of the downward movement of said needle.

2. The combination of a needle, a looper, and a needlethread controller including a thread'engagingdevice, thread guides cooperating therewith, and means for moving said thread engaging-device relative to said thread guides to take up the slack in front of the needle on the first part of the downward movement thereof and to take up the slack in the needle thread as the needle rises and for moving said thread engaging device relative to said guides, so that the same cooperates with the needle to draw up the previous needle loop after it is shed from the looper and on thedownward movement of the needle.

3. The combination with a needle, a needle bar, a thread guide carried'thereby, athread controller cooperating with said thread guide on the needle bar, and a plurality of movable thread guides engaging said needle thread between the thread guide on the needle bar and the needle eye and a device for engaging the thread between the movable thread guides.

4. The combination with a needle, a needle bar, I a rotary shaft, a crank carried thereby, a link intermediate said crank and said needle bar, a thread arm carried by said link, a plurality of thread guides carried by said arm, a stationary threadguide cooperating with said thread guides, a thread guide carried by' said needle bar, and a thread controller cooperating with the thread guide on said needle bar.

v 5. The combination with apresser bar, a needle, a needle bar, a thread guide carried thereby, a presser bar, a thread .controller mounted on top of the head of the machine, adjacent the upper end of the needle bar, said threadcontroller including a lever, having a thread guide at its forward end, an adjustable post forming a pivotal support for said lever and a link connecting said lever to the presser bar.

6. The combination with a presser bar, a needle, a needle bar, a thread guide carried thereby, a presser bar, a thread controller mounted on top of the'head of the machine adjacent the upper end of the needle bar, said thread controller including a lever having a thread guide'at its forward end, an adjustable post forming a pivotal sup ort for said lever and a link connecting sal lever to the presser bar, needle thread controlling guides, and means for operating the needle bar and said'thread controlling guides. I

\ 7. In .a sewing machine, a thread controlling ,device'including in combination a movable member, two spaced thread guides carthread guide and the first named movable v guides, and means for moving said member, whereby the distance between the two first named spaced thread guides respectively and the stationary thread guide is constantly changing.

8. In a sewing machine, a thread controlling device including in combination a stationary'thread guide, a movable member, thread guides carried thereby, and located upon opposite sides of said stationary guide, and moving in a vertical line, a second movable member and thread guides carried thereby, and located upon' opposite sides of said stationary thread guideyand moving in a direction at an angleto the path of movement ,of the first named movable thread guides.

9. In a sewing machine, a thread controlling device including in combination a sta-,

tionary thread guide, a movable member, thread guides carried thereby, and located upon opposite sides of said stationaryguide, and moving in a vertical line, a second movable member and thread guides carried thereby, andlocated upon opposite sides of said stationary thread guide, and moving in a direction at an angle to the path of movement of the first named movable thread guides, said second named thread opposite directions guides also moving in to each other.

10. A sewing machine comprising a thread controllin device including two spaced thread gui es,'means for supporting 

